Practice Makes Perfect: Overcoming Your Fear of Public Speaking

Guest contribution by Jill S. Tietjen, P.E.

My knees were trembling so badly that I had to grip the podium to remain standing. I was a senior in college presenting a technical paper in an engineering competition. There were ten presenters, nine boys and me. Not only was I the last presenter, but the speaker before me had attacked my alma mater (which I now had to defend). I had never been so terrified in my life.

Fast forward three years. My employer asked me to attend training to be a member of the company’s speaker’s bureau. I jumped at the chance. I remembered how I felt at that podium and I never wanted to feel so unsure of myself again. This is not to say the training went entirely smoothly. We were all videotaped. What a humbling experience! I couldn’t believe how I moved my hands, how I sounded, and how I looked. I was determined to make improvements.

Today, over 35 years later, I speak 50-100 times per year all over the country to spread the word about my book Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America, which is about the amazing women on whose shoulders we stand. When I wear my electrical engineering hat, I also give talks and serve as an expert witness, testifying before regulatory bodies.

I am positive that anyone can become comfortable with public speaking, so why is it that Americans are more afraid of public speaking than dying? Fear of public speaking even has a name: glossophobia. I’ve read that 75 percent of women suffer from speaking anxiety, but guess what? You don’t have to be one of them.

I have learned that every successful executive has to be able to communicate. Public speaking is a critical skill for career success. Thus, you have tremendous incentive to conquer any fears about public speaking that you might have so that you can climb the corporate/organizational ladder.

How do you get comfortable? Practice, practice, practice. Take every opportunity afforded by every venue to practice. I had many opportunities to speak in a volunteer capacity through the Society of Women Engineers. I highly recommend participation in Toastmasters. Chair committees of professional and technical organizations. Participate on the boards of non-profit organizations. Volunteer to speak at technical and professional conferences. Take speaking classes or workshops. Do whatever you think will work best for you.

Before each of your speaking opportunities, determine who your audience will be. Tailor your remarks every time to your specific audience. Anticipate their information needs and their questions. The audience wants you to be successful. With the knowledge you are able to gather about your audience in advance, you will be able to figure out what they need, discover how they feel about your topic, and realize how best to serve them.

I always arrive early every time I speak to give myself a chance to become familiar with the “lay of the land.” Use equipment/technology with which you are comfortable or take the time to become comfortable with it if you are not. Learn how to use a microphone and to be able to hear if it is working properly or not.

The more you practice and the more opportunities you have to speak, the more you’ll see what techniques work for you. I use humor, mostly through irony. I am not a joke teller, however. I believe humor used appropriately is a valuable skill in every speaker’s tool box. Be careful about the use of self-deprecating humor, which women use about 70 percent of the time. If you are not a powerful leader, you need to be aware that recent studies show that not only is self-deprecating humor not always viewed as funny but it may be seen as a sign that the user is unfit for future leadership. Choose your words – and your humor – carefully. You don’t want to use any technique that minimizes your capabilities.

In addition to humor, I tell many stories. Audiences love stories and you’ll learn to love telling them. Oftentimes, your points are best made through story telling.

Learn not to end your sentences up, which means using a higher note at the end of a sentence. It sounds like a question and it also comes across like you don’t know your material. You do know what you’re talking about and you want to convey this, through the way you speak and by researching your topic thoroughly. Know the answers to all the questions, and actually write down the questions you anticipate along with their answers. This knowledge base will enable you to project confidence as you speak. Sometimes, it is even appropriate to plant people in the audience with specific questions that you want to be asked.

Your presentation isn’t going to be perfect; we all make mistakes. Learn in advance to forgive yourself. Your audience will.

You don’t have to fill every second of time. Pauses are acceptable while you think about your next point, gather your thoughts before answering a difficult or hostile question, or find some piece of information in your notes.

Do not read your presentation. Prepare enough that your script effectively becomes notes to which you can refer as necessary. Don’t memorize it either. Be organized and develop a technique that helps you remember your key points, whether on note cards, on your slides, or in your script.

Make eye contact with members of the audience. I love to see the audience laugh, to have someone smile at me or people nod their heads when I look at them.

Remember to breathe. That will help you remain calm and give your body much needed oxygen.

Ask for feedback from trusted colleagues or advisors after you make presentations that they have observed. If people suggest different behavior or gestures or a different approach, heed them and work to incorporate those improvements into your speaking style.

By the way, I did place second in that technical paper competition my senior year in college. As I walked to the stage that evening to get my award, a woman in the audience yelled, “Way to go, honey!” I recently watched videotapes of some of my 2012 talks and guess what? I no longer hate them. I even laughed and smiled as I watched. With enough practice, you’ll get there too.

Jill S. Tietjen, P.E. is an electrical engineer and President and CEO of Technically Speaking, Inc. of Greenwood Village, Colorado. She provides consulting services to the electric utility industry in the areas of resource planning and fuels and serves as an expert witness. A national motivational speaker, Tietjen is the co-author of the bestselling and award-winning book “Her Story: A Timeline of the Women Who Changed America.” She sits on two corporate boards, is the 2014-2015 President of the Board of the National Women’s Hall of Fame, and has been inducted into the Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame.

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